Why Are You Here?

[HugoFastor]

What brought you to Thailand in the first place, and what made you decide to stay and become a resident? 

 

Was it one of the many common or typical reasons or was it something more unusual?

[Lacessit]

I came here because I knew if I stayed in Australia after I retired, I would probably die out of sheer boredom.

 

There were the common reasons as well - beautiful women, low cost of living.

 

Thailand was on top of the list, having researched Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and The Philippines.

[simon43]

Health reasons (weak lungs didn't like the English weather). Doctor advised a hot and humid climate.

[Yellow Fever]

The easy women 

[Yagoda]

1. Warm

2, Pussy

3. Food

4. Weirdness

5. Safe

 

For a Yank, Thailand/Cambodia is like an acid trip. 

 

Now Im in Cambodia because their government is in "dont care" mode about foreigners. Spend money bong, welcome.

[G_Money]

The temples, modern sidewalks, safe driving habits, Thai culture, lack of corruption and all the smiling faces were at the top of my list.

[Gottfrid]

Because I want to.

[SingAPorn]

The question should rather be "why will you soon be leaving Thailand ?"

[RSD1]

If it weren't for @bob smith and his tranny tours, I wouldn't be here!

[ElwoodP]

Offensive posts removed. Please try to be more polite, this a family forum.

[Mekmong MICK]

Came to meet someone and be in a relationship, and have ticked this box

[BritManToo]

I came here to avoid women ..........

Massive fail!

[G_Money]

6 minutes ago, Mekmong MICK said:

Came to meet someone and be in a relationship, and have ticked this box

Congrats!  Update us in a year.

 

 

[Furioso]

I came here to get sober. Epic Fail!

[Mekmong MICK]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I came here to avoid women ..........

It's good how Thailand is accepting of your diverse alternative lifestyle mate 

[Will B Good]

Thai wife, plus, saving money like there's no tomorrow......'only' spend 40k a month in total.

[atpeace]

32 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Thai wife, plus, saving money like there's no tomorrow......'only' spend 40k a month in total.

I here that all the time.  Then I ask about the car they are driving they paid for in cash, health/car Insurance paid annually and the misc big spend items that pop up every few years.  Usually just a shrug and I really don't count those response.  One was actually paying 50% of his claimed budget on his annual yacht club membership if amortized.  For example, if your rent is 20k and your friend owns his home his monthly budget would be 20k less but that isn't how it works in the real world.  To save that 20k most spend millions of baht.

 

I live in the sticks like yourself and the upfront costs can be huge ( mine weren't that bad ).

Edited July 5 by atpeace

[TimBKK]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Now Im in Cambodia because their government is in "dont care" mode about foreigners. Spend money bong, welcome.

what do you mean, precisely?

[Yagoda]

3 minutes ago, TimBKK said:

what do you mean, precisely?

Walk in to a Travel Agent, give them Money, get a Visa, see you next year, bye. No reports, forms, bank accounts, paperwork. Sign here, thank you. Go spend money.

Edited July 5 by Yagoda

[atpeace]

I came here after travelling Mexico and central America in a van.  Arrived in Thailand with a push bike and pedaled around Thailand and loved it. Lots of beautiful women that genuinely seemed interested in me 😜 That was in 1998 and managed to stay here, minus about 5 years, until now.  Made loads of mistakes but I seem to be able to recover better than most and  life at 57 in Thailand is better than ever.   Decided to venture out of the cities and live in rural Thailand four years ago near a sleepy tourist town.  Not sure what location I prefer in Thailand but happy so it really doesn't matter much I guess.

[Nemises]

5 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Walk in to a Travel Agent, give them Money, get a Visa, see you next year, bye. No reports, forms, bank accounts, paperwork. Sign here, thank you. Go spend money.

 Can do this in Thailand also. 

[Presnock]

8 hours ago, HugoFastor said:

What brought you to Thailand in the first place, and what made you decide to stay and become a resident? 

 

Was it one of the many common or typical reasons or was it something more unusual?

I was assigned to Thailand in the early 70's working the US Military in NKP, then with family in 76-79, 97-2000, and again 03-05.  I hate cold weather/snow.  I love Thai food, hot weather, and even the rainy season (but not floods).  I found that the Thai people accepted western foreigners and that the dollar went a lot further than in the US, so when I retired in 2005 I moved to Thailand.  I have not regretted at any time, still love it though the pollution seems to be getting worse, govt leaning a lot more towards China (BRICS) but the food is still great too.  After first wife (westerner) died of breast cancer, I remarried a Thai lady, and we have a 20-year old daughter currently a student at Chulalongkorn University (on summer break so she is doing a summer Korean class at Seoul National University).  Once the government decides to publish the final paper on the income taxation picture here so that the majority (I think) of expats can relax then life could be even a bit better.  Hope all still enjoy the reasons for moving here.

[HugoFastor]

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

I was assigned to Thailand in the early 70's working the US Military in NKP, then with family in 76-79, 97-2000, and again 03-05.  I hate cold weather/snow.  I love Thai food, hot weather, and even the rainy season (but not floods).  I found that the Thai people accepted western foreigners and that the dollar went a lot further than in the US, so when I retired in 2005 I moved to Thailand.  I have not regretted at any time, still love it though the pollution seems to be getting worse, govt leaning a lot more towards China (BRICS) but the food is still great too.  After first wife (westerner) died of breast cancer, I remarried a Thai lady, and we have a 20-year old daughter currently a student at Chulalongkorn University (on summer break so she is doing a summer Korean class at Seoul National University).  Once the government decides to publish the final paper on the income taxation picture here so that the majority (I think) of expats can relax then life could be even a bit better.  Hope all still enjoy the reasons for moving here.

Nice story. Thank you for sharing.

 

I agree on the issues you mentioned. The tax issue has a lot of people concerned. Pollution is a problem. And flooding could become a bigger problem in the next 5 years. Hopefully never a major earthquake though. The fault lines in Laos aren't that far away. 

[Presnock]

17 minutes ago, HugoFastor said:

Nice story. Thank you for sharing.

 

I agree on the issues you mentioned. The tax issue has a lot of people concerned. Pollution is a problem. And flooding could become a bigger problem in the next 5 years. Hopefully never a major earthquake though. The fault lines in Laos aren't that far away. 

1st year we moved to CM about 10 years ago, we rented an apartment on hte 3rd floor - 5.3 I blvt on the scale - watched water splashing out of the pool, wires swinging right outside the apartment bldg - we had discussed buying 2 of the condos in that bldg as it was new and vacant except for us - my wife immediately afterwards said - nothing that isn't on the ground!!! In other countries (i.e. Japan, the PI, California, I have experienced 8 and 9 earthquakes - PI was my 2nd choice for retiredment but the earthquake bit and volcano (pinatubo in PI while I was in Manila) decided to take my first choice.  Will hopefully live here till I'm no longer around but seems to me that the weather is getting worse and worse everywhere!  have a good one!

[Yagoda]

2 hours ago, Nemises said:

 Can do this in Thailand also. 

No reports? No TM30s? No fees for reentry? No contact at all with an immigration drone?

 

I think not.

[FruitPudding]

10 hours ago, Yellow Fever said:

The easy women 

 

It's the country's main attraction. 

[HugoFastor]

2 hours ago, Presnock said:

1st year we moved to CM about 10 years ago, we rented an apartment on hte 3rd floor - 5.3 I blvt on the scale - watched water splashing out of the pool, wires swinging right outside the apartment bldg - we had discussed buying 2 of the condos in that bldg as it was new and vacant except for us - my wife immediately afterwards said - nothing that isn't on the ground!!! In other countries (i.e. Japan, the PI, California, I have experienced 8 and 9 earthquakes - PI was my 2nd choice for retiredment but the earthquake bit and volcano (pinatubo in PI while I was in Manila) decided to take my first choice.  Will hopefully live here till I'm no longer around but seems to me that the weather is getting worse and worse everywhere!  have a good one!

CM was great before all the air pollution ruined it.
 

Adding more to the Thailand natural disaster risk scenario, local experts are predicting a major typhoon to come up through the eastern seaboard and rip through Pattaya and Bangkok in the not too distant future. It's difficult to ever know how serious these risks really are, but I guess you can't focus on them too much:

 

 

Edited July 6 by HugoFastor

[Presnock]

1 minute ago, HugoFastor said:

CM was great before all the air pollution ruined it.
 

Adding more to the Thailand natural disaster risk scenario, local experts are predicting a major typhoon to come up through the eastern seaboard and rip through Pattaya and Bangkok in the not too distant future. It's to ever know how serious the risk really is, but I guess you can't focus on these things too much:

 

 

Yeah, currently we are renting a house in BKK as daughter is a college kid...but own our house in CM, in discussions the past year, wife says she wants to keep the house but during the "burning" season thinks that we should travel to someplace with clean air.  Who could argue with that?  Islands or PI?  During that part of the year, believe that winds are from the east - maybe beaches of VN might be okay.

[Nemises]

2 hours ago, Yagoda said:

5 hours ago, Nemises said:

Can do this in Thailand also. 

No reports? No TM30s? No fees for reentry? No contact at all with an immigration drone?

 

I think not.

You are wrong. 
 

Been living here many years, have never been into an immigration office nor have any idea where it is. 

[Presnock]

54 minutes ago, Nemises said:

You are wrong. 
 

Been living here many years, have never been into an immigration office nor have any idea where it is. 

He is either lying or pays an agent to do any reporting...if he is telling the truth and neither of these is correct, then we will probably read about his arrest for overstay in the future or he is a local.